Leader of Ecstasy ring, brother plead guilty

Published 10:00 pm, Monday, October 7, 2002

The last two members of a major Ecstasy ring in Seattle -- including the leader, International District nightclub owner Nho Van Vo -- pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court yesterday.

Vo, who ran the drug business out of Club NV on South Main Street as well as a nearby automotive repair business and his home above the Uwajimaya grocery store, likely will be sentenced to 13 years in prison, according to the plea deal he has accepted.

Most of the 34 defendants have already been sentenced to terms ranging from five to 60 months.

From 2000 through early this year, according to prosecutors, Vo headed a ring responsible for buying and selling "well in excess" of 60,000 tablets of Ecstasy, a stimulant and psychedelic drug popular with teenagers and young adults. Federal agents and police arrested most of the suspects during raids in January.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, as well as cocaine and marijuana, was sold at dance clubs around the city and at impromptu all-night "rave" parties.

The drug can induce euphoria. It can also cause memory loss, brain damage and, on rare occasion, death.

All but six of the dealers were in their 20s. The group included men and women of many different ethnicities.

"This was a substantial prosecution of what was probably the premier Ecstasy ring in this district," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Friedman, the lead prosecutor in the case.

Vo used the drug sale proceeds "to remodel, establish, and sustain his new nightclub, Club NV," according to the plea agreement.

Vo's distributors included several people he met in the music promotion business, prosecutors say. They also included employees of the auto business called Ultraspeed on South Jackson Street, which was jointly run by Vo and his brother, Nhat Van Vo, who pleaded guilty at the same hearing.

The music and rave promoters involved ran outfits with names like Rocket Promotions, Trenchtown Entertainment and Urban Outcast Entertainment.

Both Ultraspeed and Club NV recently closed. Another club involved in the investigation, Club FX on Elliott Avenue West, also has shut down.

During one visit, agents said, they were approached by as many as eight different people offering to sell Ecstasy.

Vo was described in court papers as a feared kingpin who threatened subordinates who owed him money and brazenly continued to do business from his apartment even after he knew DEA agents were spying on him from across the hall.